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Photo Courtesy of the Los Angles County Fire Dept.

While we in Erie are experiencing our own weather story, the West Coast is experiencing its share of extreme weather troubles. One of the big stories this weekend will be the huge wildfire that sprung up seemingly out of nowhere yesterday. High winds, low humidity and dry brush are combining to burn thousands of acres near Malibu. Mandatory evacuations are in force. Hundreds of homes have burned overnight and at least 9 people have perished while trying to flee. The City of Paradise, population about 27,000, is reported to have burned nearly to the ground. Its hospital is reported to still be intact, but little else remains. About 13,000 people in Malibu were ordered to evacuate late last night as conditions worsened and there was little Firefighters could do to stop the assault. Malibu is home to many celebrities and scores of multi-million dollar homes. As of this morning, the fire covered about 150 square miles.

We will have the latest on Action News 24 at 7 pm & 11:30 pm.

Copyright 2018 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.